Lehigh Valley Politics and Election News

Gavin Holihan took the oath of office Tuesday morning as Lehigh County's new district attorney. He said he'll divert resources away from penny-ante issues to focus on battling violent crime.

The 20-year-old is a youth director with Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley. She graduated from William Allen High School in 2021 and won election to the school board in the November general election.

The Pennsylvania Department of State is starting a new office to help train county election workers, Pa. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. It also plans to update its guidance for logic and accuracy testing that could have caught issues with the Northampton County voting machines.

In a letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Rep. Milou Mackenzie asked the Department of State to provide Northampton County with instructions on how to avoid more Election Day mistakes with their voting machines.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure on Friday named a human resources department manager as his acting director of administration. She joined the county in May 2022.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Mark Pinsley announced Friday, Dec. 1, that he will run for auditor general in 2024. The position oversees financial and performance audits of Pennsylvania state government.

County Executive Lamont McClure reiterated Thursday he will not step down after the county experienced widespread problems with its voting machines on Election Day. Despite the problems, the county's Election Commission certified the results last week.

Republican Kat Copeland is hoping her experience as a federal and local prosecutor will help her become Pennsylvania's next attorney general.

County Executive Lamont McClure on Friday accepted the resignation of Charles Dertinger, his director of administration and a longtime political ally. As director of administration, Dertinger oversaw the county elections division, which came under scrutiny in the wake of widespread voting machine problems in the Nov. 7 election.

Pennsylvania House Republican leader Bryan Cutler is seeking to wait until the May primary before holding special elections in two vacant districts.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, perhaps the most powerful politician ever from the Lehigh Valley, made his farewell address on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

The total cost of the governor’s race in Pennsylvania topped $100 million in this last election cycle, a staggering amount that set a new spending record in the race to snag the state’s highest office.

Both parties seem to agree that Feb. 7 would be a good date for special elections, but neither party thinks the other has the right to set it. It’s a case of disagreeing to agree. Or something.

Donald Trump’s attacks on fellow Republican David McCormick contributed to the former hedge fund manager’s loss in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary in May. These effects may be long-lasting.

A second Pa. appellate court judge, Deborah Kunselman, will run for an open seat on the state Supreme Court in next November’s election.

Voters with no religious affiliation supported Democratic candidates and abortion rights by staggering percentages in the 2022 midterm elections. And the religiously unaffiliated are growing.

Less than a month after the critical midterm election, Democratic and Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania state House are contesting which party can run the body, a dispute that could determine who has the power to call special elections to fill pending vacancies, and shape who lawmakers pick to lead the chamber on Jan. 3.

Three weeks after the end of voting, challenges to certify midterm election results are playing out in just two states, Arizona and Pennsylvania, where Democrats won the marquee races for governor and Senate.

Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro Wednesday detailed how he’ll assume power from Gov. Tom Wolf, who will helm the AG’s office, and some of his goals for his first year in office.

When John Fetterman goes to Washington in January as one of the Senate’s new members, he’ll bring along his style from Pennsylvania. It's one that extends from his own personal and very casual dress code to hanging marijuana flags outside his current office in the state Capitol.